Adam S. Arthur, MD, MPH, has been named chair of the Department of Neurosurgery in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Dr. Arthur has been the director of cerebrovascular and endovascular neurosurgery for Semmes Murphey Clinic and the UTHSC Department of Neurosurgery since 2009. In addition, Dr. Arthur also has more than a decade of distinguished service as a neurosurgeon at major hospitals in Memphis. He has served as the chief of interventional neuroradiology for Baptist Memorial Hospital since 2010, the director of vascular and endovascular neurosurgery for Methodist University Hospital since 2010, and chair of Neurosurgery at Methodist University Hospital since 2018. Dr. Arthur has also been fellowship director of the UTHSC/Semmes Murphey Clinic Fellowship in Open and Endovascular Neurosurgery since 2011.
In joining the executive leadership of the UTHSC College of Medicine, Dr. Arthur said he plans to continue to work to improve patient care, to increase his focus on educating the next generation of neurosurgeons, and to build clinical research.
“This is an exciting time to be in the neurosciences,” he said. “There’s so much that we have yet to understand and so much more that we can do. I look forward to working with the faculty, residents and medical students at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to explore that space and how we can make things better for patients.”
Dr. Arthur said he sees collaboration as key to his new role. “The three most important aspects of any academic medical endeavor are the ability to offer patients and their families what we would want in their position; the ability to help the next generation of surgeons to be better; and the ability to discover new ways of doing things. It is a privilege to work to lift up the next generation and help them to do more for patients, because we’ve learned more together.”
A 1998 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Dr. Arthur did his internship in general surgery at the University of Utah, where he also received a master’s degree in public health and completed his residency in neurosurgery. He completed fellowships in interventional neuroradiology and cerebrovascular neurosurgery at UTHSC and the Semmes Murphey Neurologic and Spine Clinic in 2006.
“We are exceptionally excited and privileged to recruit a neurosurgeon of Dr. Arthur’s caliber to the position of chair of Neurosurgery in the UTHSC College of Medicine,” said Scott Strome, MD, executive dean of the college. “He is an exceptional administrator, surgeon, and educator, and we look forward to having him as a leader on our campus.”
Initially, neurosurgery was not his first choice in medical school, Dr. Arthur said. However, from an early age, he had been interested in how things work. He became interested in the neurosciences as he grew older, primarily to understand “why and how we are what we are,” he said.
“Then, I began to realize that there was a combination that I found absolutely irresistible of working with your hands on challenging technical work; working with vibrant, motivated, smart people; and having the results of your work be that you can save someone or restore function, and really make a difference in people’s lives,” Dr. Arthur said. Neurosurgery offers that combination.
Dr. Arthur is a member of numerous surgical, neurological, and neurosurgical societies and organizations. He is chair of the Annual Meeting Committee for the 2022 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He has held visiting professorships at numerous universities, including New York University, the Cleveland Clinic, and the University of Southern California.
A funded researcher, Dr. Arthur has given 140 invited lectures, made 42 peer-reviewed presentations, written 20 books and book chapters and more than 230 peer-reviewed journal articles.
“Dr. Arthur brings surgical expertise, educational excellence, and outstanding clinical research experience to his new role as chair of the Department of Neurosurgery,” said Kevin Foley, MD, a professor of neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and biomedical engineering at UTHSC and chairman of Semmes Murphey Clinic. “His colleagues and I at Semmes Murphey Clinic look forward to helping him advance the mission of UTHSC.”